9mm and 45 acp can use fast to medium burning powder like TiteGroup, AA#5, Clays, W231, HP-38, and Universal and the like.

As one hardcore 357 sig reloader, I would only use Power Pistol, Longshot, Blue Dot, AA#7 and prefer AA#9.

357 sig is a real high intensity round. There is no target velocity when it comes to 357 sig. It should be doing at least 1250 fps or you're wasting range time. Otherwise, just shoot 9mm or downloaded 40SW.

357 sig was designed to punch - and your powder needs to deliver it.

With that bottleneck, you want a slow and bulky powder that will dump 13.0 grains or so in that case to give you 1350 fps with a 125 grainers.

WESHOOT2

December 30, 2002, 12:47 AM

Can suggest Power Pistol.

cheygriz

December 30, 2002, 01:01 AM

Can suggest HS-6 for all three.

Frohickey

December 30, 2002, 01:22 AM

Unique has since been reformulated to burn cleaning that it used to, and it still has the same burn characteristics so that load data do not have to change.

Unique... I use it for 38Special, 357Magnum, 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP.
It should work with the 357Sig as well. I've used it on light 44Magnum loads too.

GeneS

December 30, 2002, 10:32 AM

Power Pistol should work well for all 3, HS-6 too. Both powders work great for the 9mm, and look to be good choices for the .357Sig. They will work for the .45 auto but are slower burning than you likely need. You really would save money if you kept using the Bullseye or Clays for the .45 and used Power Pistol or HS-6 for the 9 and .357Sig. Where you may be using 5 gr. of Bullseye you would likely need 2.5 to 3 grains more of Power Pistol or HS-6. Bullseye is very fast for the 9mm. For anything more than light target loads, something like Power Pistol would be better and safer.

Just picked up some Win 231 to use for .45 ACP but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Neal Bloom

December 30, 2002, 11:53 AM

I would also second Power Pistol. Have to agree about Unique being dirty and difficult to meter.

Zero

December 30, 2002, 12:06 PM

I load the 3 cals you suggest, and I use Vhitavouri N340 for those. I works great for me, very clean burning and low muzzle flash.

mr. e

December 30, 2002, 12:46 PM

I've found that I can use Alliant's Bullseye for all of my loads. It is fine grained like Power Pistol and meters well. It also uses smaller charges than Power Pistol when loading to the lower velocity ranges for most cartridges.

For 357 SIG, I use 6.3 to 6.5 gr. giving me 1260 to 1285 fps with 125 gr. Master Match bullets from Wideners. This load gives me 2" groups at 15 meters from my stock Sig P229. If I really want some velocity though, I use Power Pistol at 9.4 gr. which gives me about 1460 fps.

At 9mm, I use 4.6 gr. of Bullseye which gives me about 1190 fps from my CZ-85. I use 124 gr. Master Match bullets and get good accuracy of about 2" at 15 meters. I think the heavier 9mm bullets are a little more accurate than the 115 gr., but that's more of a feeling than a measurement.

For 45, 3.9 gr. of Bullseye gives me about 790 fps from my Kimber. I'm using 230 gr. hard cast lead bullets here and I start getting some leading in the barrel. I could get better velocity with heavier powder charges if I used jacketed bullets. Accuracy here is about 4" at 15 meters compared to less than 2" with 5.4 gr. of Unique.

Currently, since I don't limit myself to one powder, I use Bullseye for 9mm, Power Pistol for 357 SIG, and Unique for 45 ACP when I'm shooting lead.

By the way, all of these loads come from the Alliant Powder Reloader's Guide and are under the maximum loads for each caliber listed. YMMV, use these loads at your own risk. Start lower and work up to see how your pistols work with these loads.

agony

December 31, 2002, 01:09 AM

Thanks for the advice.....looks like I'm investing in a pound or two of Power Pistol. :)

Clark

January 3, 2003, 12:34 PM

I am not a competitive or target shooter.
I just try to develop the most powerful loads I can but testing the real limits and backing off a good safety margin.